Shaw, a co-senior author of the new study, acknowledged a link between early puberty and excess weight in young girls. “I do think it plays a role, but in my practice, it’s not just those who are overweight or obese who are having early puberty,” she said. But children were most likely to be exposed to only one of them: musk ambrette, according to the report, published in Endocrinology. Musk ambrette is widely used in inexpensive or counterfeit fragrances and other scented personal care products, Shaw said. She was surprised that phthalates, which have been linked to early puberty, didn’t come up in the research.

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Persons: Natalie Shaw, Shaw, “, it’s, ”, ” Shaw, haven’t, Apisadaporn, didn’t, Jasmine McDonald, McDonald, ” McDonald Organizations: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Harvard, of Public Health, UCLA, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health Locations: Durham , North Carolina, Chan, New York City